BRIEFLY

Banking & Finance

Conversion Industries CEO Quits: John P. McGrain, 49, said he will leave Conversion because "the adverse publicity I have received as chairman has detracted from shareholder value." The change came two days after the American Stock Exchange decided to delist the Pasadena-based company's stock over disclosure issues. Conversion has operated as a merchant banking firm since 1991, investing in small companies and facilitating public stock offerings for those firms. But shares of many of those companies, and of Conversion itself, have plummeted in value this year. Financial ties among McGrain, Conversion, its spinoff companies and Colorado brokerage Tamaron Investments have also generated controversy.